Falcons Stop Ball State, 6-1

Friday, April 12

Perrysburg, OH

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Ball State

April 12, 2013 | Women's Tennis

BGSU now tied for second in the MAC heading into Saturday matchup with first-place Miami

By: PERRYSBURG, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The Bowling Green State University tennis team won the doubles point yet again, then won five singles matches in straight sets, posting a 6-1 win over Ball State University Friday afternoon (April 12). The Mid-American Conference match was held at the Perrysburg Tennis Center.

POST-MATCH VIDEO
Penny Dean | Katie Grubb

With the win, the Falcons improve to 15-3 in dual-match play this season, and BGSU is now 4-2 in MAC matches. The Falcons are tied for second place in the conference standings, heading into a Saturday match with league-leading Miami University.

The Falcons captured the doubles point for the 17th consecutive match, with head coach Penny Dean's four seniors combining for a pair of wins. Jade Johnson and Mary Hill burst out to a 7-0 lead en route to an 8-2 win over Ball State's Lauren Pickrel and Paola Rodriguez at the third flight.

**UPDATED MAC STANDINGS (through Friday)**
Team (Overall)	MAC
Miami (9-12)	5-1
Bowling Green (15-3)	4-2
Western Michigan (11-11)	4-2
Akron (15-8)	3-2
Ball State (12-10)	3-3
Buffalo (11-3)	2-3
Eastern Michigan (7-12)	2-3
Toledo (8-11)	2-4
Northern Illinois (14-7)	0-5

In second-flight action, fourth-year Falcons Katie Grubb and Maddy Eccleston overcame an early 1-0 deficit, winning three-straight games, and the BG duo never trailed again. BSU's Bethany Moore and Kristel Sanders knotted the score at 4-4, but Eccleston and Grubb won the next two games to take a 6-4 lead. The BSU duo got within 6-5 before the BG seniors captured the next two contests for an 8-5 win.

Both of BGSU's senior tandems are now 6-0 in MAC dual-match play. Overall, the Hill/Johnson team has gone 13-3 on the season, with all but one of those matches having come in dual-match play. Eccleston and Grubb are 21-5 on the year and 14-2 since the start of the dual-match schedule.

Eccleston has won nine consecutive doubles contests, while Grubb has been a winner in eight doubles matches in a row. Eccleston, BGSU's all-time leader in doubles wins, now has 95 career victories.

The Cardinals earned a victory at the top doubles flight, as Courtney Earnest and Courtney Wild outlasted BGSU juniors Nikki Chiricosta and Emily Reuland, 8-5.

In singles play, all six matches were decided in straight sets. Ball State briefly tied the match, as Earnest defeated Reuland in second-flight action. But, the Falcons retook the lead moments later, with Grubb picking up a win over Moore at the fifth flight. The BG senior captured a 6-3 opening set, then rallied from a 3-1 second-set deficit for a 7-5 win.

Hill lost just four total games in her win at the sixth flight. She won five-straight games for a 6-1 win over Ashlyn Rang in the opening set, then never trailed in a 6-3 victory in the second set.

Hill's win gave the Falcons a 3-1 lead, and Chiricosta clinched the match victory by downing Wild at the top flight. The BG junior won a closely-contested first set, 6-4. Then, after the Ball State sophomore won the first game of the second set, Chiricosta took the next six games for the victory.

Wild had entered the match with an overall record of 18-3 in dual matches this season, including a 5-0 MAC record. She had won 10 consecutive matches before losing in straight sets to Chiricosta on Friday afternoon.

Freshman Katie Brozovich continued her own personal winning streak with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sanders at the fourth flight. The first-year Falcon improved to a perfect 6-0 in MAC singles play, and she has won 17 consecutive singles matches since her last loss back on Jan. 18. Overall, she has won 24 matches in a row (both singles and doubles) since that singles setback.

Eccleston defeated Ayaka Terashi at the third flight, with a 6-3 win in the opening set and a 7-6 victory in the second. In that back-and-forth second set, Eccleston led by a 5-4 count, saw Terashi win the next two games, then won the next game to force a tiebreaker. The BG senior won that 'breaker by a 7-3 score for BGSU's sixth point.

In an exhibition match that was not included in the final scoring, Falcon freshman Drew Fillis was an 8-3 winner over Pickrel. Fillis took an early 3-0 lead and was never headed.

With 15 dual-match wins this season to date, BGSU is just one victory shy of matching the school record. Dean's 1998-99 team posted a 16-7 record, while her 2007-08 club finished with a 16-5 mark.

Through Friday's matches, the Falcons are tied with Western Michigan for second place in the MAC, as each team is 4-2 in league play. BG and the Broncos are a game behind league-leading Miami (5-1). Saturday's Miami match begins at 1:00 p.m., and will be 'Senior Day' for the program, as the four seniors will be recognized in ceremonies prior to the start.

BGSU 6, BALL STATE 1
Fri., April 12, 2013 – Perrysburg Tennis Center – Perrysburg, Ohio
SINGLES
1 – Nikki Chiricosta (BGSU) def. Courtney Wild 6-4, 6-1
2 – Courtney Earnest (Ball St.) def. Emily Reuland 6-2, 6-2
3 – Maddy Eccleston (BGSU) def. Ayaka Terashi 6-3, 7-6(3)
4 – Katie Brozovich (BGSU) def. Kristel Sanders 6-4, 6-3
5 – Katie Grubb (BGSU) def. Bethany Moore 6-3, 7-5
6 – Mary Hill (BGSU) def. Ashlyn Rang 6-1, 6-3
# – Drew Fillis (BGSU) def. Lauren Pickrel 8-3
# not included in match scoring

DOUBLES
1 – Earnest/Wild (Ball St.) def. Chiricosta/Reuland 8-5
2 – Eccleston/Grubb (BGSU) def. Moore/Sanders 8-5
3 – Hill/Jade Johnson (BGSU) def. Pickrel/Paola Rodriguez 8-2

RECORDS
BGSU 15-3, 4-2 MAC
Ball State 12-10, 3-3 MAC

ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 3,2,1
Singles: 2,5,6,1,4,3

UP NEXT FOR BGSU
Sat., April 13, vs. Miami